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Phidippus adumbratus
Gravid (pregnant) gray jumping spider with orange markings on head and abdomen. She has made a web sac in preparation of laying eggs. The second image shows how large her abdomen is. Jumping spiders accurately sense distances by comparing a blurry version of an image with a clear one, a method called image defocus.
Abandoned black sock in backyard.
The vision method and the spiders ability to make a home nearly anywhere is why I'm submitting it to NWF for both Wildlife with Super Senses, Species that Survive in Unusual Habitats. Unfortunately we didn't realize it was gravid when pulling the web sac away for photo's. She crawled out but was placed back on the sock. Hopefully she will repair the sac and continue like nothing happened :)
6 Comments
Thanks Jan, yes she was very beautiful. I think all pregnant females are :)
wow!! she's beautiful!! great pics!!
I think they're pretty too, Kristen. Their subtle blue on their chelicerae, bright abdomen and large eyes are what I like.
i'm not a big fan of spiders, but that one is pretty!
Thank you textless. Even pregnant, these spiders are very docile and let me take pics without running around :)
Great series... and one very pregnant spider.